Address: Russia, Moscow region, Sergiev Posad, st. 1st Shock Army, 17
Completion of construction: 1820 year
Coordinates: 56 ° 18'55.4 "N 38 ° 07'53.0" E
Content:
Half a kilometer from the north of the Utochia tower of the Trinity-Sergievskaya Lavra there is a beautiful blue and white church. It was built here in the 10s of the XIX century. According to legend, the church became a symbol of hope for the resurrection of all the defenders of the monastery who fell during the siege in the Time of Troubles - 1608-1610. Today, the restored Church of the Resurrection of the Word received the status of a courtyard of the Lavra and attracts many tourists and pilgrims.
History of the Church of the Resurrection of the Word
Today the area where the temple stands is called Kukuevka. So they began to call it after the Kukuevskaya Sloboda, which, together with the village of Kukuevo, absorbed the small old Kalichya Sloboda and gave its name to the whole area.
Now it is even difficult to imagine that in these places, from the north of the Trinity-Sergievskaya Lavra, a forest grew. And into it the defenders of the monastery, besieged by the Polish-Lithuanian army, broke through with a fight.
The grueling siege of the monastery lasted 16 months, and the defenders of the monastery needed firewood to survive in the cold season. Hunger and cold in the Time of Troubles were no less enemies than the enemies who attacked the Radonezh land. More than 2,000 people died from hunger and epidemics inside the fortress walls, and after the siege was over, several thousand Christians were buried outside the monastery walls, who died in the battles for the monastery and the surrounding villages. Documents have survived, which say that there were days when from 600 to 800 people were buried.
In the middle of the 18th century, a wooden church of the Resurrection of the Word was built here, in Kalichya (Kukuevskaya) settlement. After the end of the horrors of the enemy siege, about 40 years have passed, and the inhabitants wanted to honor the memory of several thousand defenders of the Trinity-Sergius monastery with a new church. The temple was built by decree of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich at the expense of the Trinity Monastery. Patriarch Nikon himself blessed the construction of the new Church of the Resurrection, and its consecration took place in 1654.
The temple was cherished and honored. A century later, in 1775, the dilapidated wooden building was replaced with a new one. In addition, a second temple was built in the settlement, consecrated in honor of Peter and Paul. But more years passed and the parishioners raised funds for the construction of a new stone church. The construction work took several years. The consecration of the main throne took place in 1818, in the still unfinished church. Two years later, the new church was ready. To preserve the memory of the first Peter and Paul wooden church, the chapel of Peter and Paul was created in the refectory of the new church. According to him, the Resurrection Church is often called the Peter and Paul Church.
According to written evidence, by the end of the 19th century, the temple was surrounded by a brick fence with octagonal corner turrets, each with two tiers. Their forms and long spiers resembled the architectural solutions of the Uchya Tower of the Trinity-Sergius Lavra. But, unfortunately, this church has not survived.
According to the inventory of 1898, there were more than 180 courtyards with 1143 parishioners at the temple. In 1902, the western covered brick porch was added to the church.
In the 30s of the last century, there were almost 600 people in the parish community of the church. However, despite this, in 1939 the Resurrection Church was closed by the decision of the authorities. The following year, the church fence was completely dismantled and the surviving bricks were used to improve the nearby market. And in 1952, the two upper tiers of the high bell tower were dismantled. The premises of the temple during these years were exploited for various industries. At the same time, the old iconostasis and all the interior decoration of the temple were completely lost. The transfer of the church to the community of believers took place in the early 1990s. And immediately began its difficult restoration. The restoration of the temple was helped by old drawings, descriptions and photographs taken in the late 19th - early 20th centuries.
Architecture and interior decoration of the Church of the Resurrection of the Word
The composition of the Resurrection Church is traditional for urban religious buildings that were built in the Russian province in the 18th-19th centuries. It consists of three parts: a single-domed church, a small refectory and a high bell tower, stretched in one line from east to west. However, the Resurrection Church differs in many ways from the churches of its time, since it is endowed with the features of the era of classicism. It has clear, geometrically regular forms characteristic of this style.
Three low semicircular apse ledges are attached to the high two-height pillarless quadrangle of the main church. The facades at the top end with laconic triangular pediments. The church is covered with a semicircular vault, completed with a round drum in cross section. And the temple is crowned with a small onion dome, placed on a small graceful neck.
There is a small square refectory nearby. The entrances to it from the side of the quadrangle are designed as arched spans. The bell tower is built in three tiers, descending from the bottom up.
The decor of the church is, for the most part, classical, but some of its elements still gravitate towards the Baroque era. From the north and south, the entrances to the temple are decorated with porticoes with four columns, which are crowned with pediments. The pilarstras that decorate the building are flattened. The facades of the Resurrection Church are covered with cement plaster. And the platbands of large rectangular windows are decorated with niches and protruding cornices - sandrids. Everything is done very laconically and strictly.
Today the Resurrection Church is the only religious building in Sergiev Posad, built according to the canons of classicism at the beginning of the 19th century. It is a recognized architectural monument and a cultural heritage site of regional significance.
The current state of the temple and the visiting regime
The Church of the Ascension is active. Its thrones are dedicated to the Renewal of the Temple of the Resurrection of Christ (the Word of Resurrection), as well as to the Apostles Peter and Paul. On the territory, near the temple, a chapel was erected in 1995 in memory of the fallen soldiers who were born in Sergiev Posad. Morning services are held here every day at 7.40, and evening - at 17.00.
How to get to the Church of the Resurrection of the Word
The temple is located in the historical center of the city of Sergiev Posad on the street of the First Shock Army, 17. From the railway station and the bus station located near it, you first need to go down to Red Army Avenue, and walk along it to Lavra. Here turn left into Aptekarskiy lane, which leads to the street of the 1st Shock Army. From the northern border of the Lavra to the Church of the Resurrection Slovuschey about 0.5 km.
If from Moscow to get to Sergiev Posad by car, then you need to go through the city along the Moscow highway and Red Army Avenue. Turn left from the Lavra and drive along Aptekarsky Lane and 1st Shock Army Street to the temple.
